Exploring the intersections of law, religion and culture.
Copyright by Richard J. Radcliffe. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, January 02, 2013

Year in Review, 2012.

Books Read (in no particular order)
1. Losing It: In Which an Aging Professor Laments... (2011) by William Ian Miller
2. Inside Scientology (2011) by Janet Reitman
3. The New New Rules (2011) by Bill Maher
4. Here Comes Trouble (2011) by Michael Moore
5. I Lost My Love in Baghdad: A Modern War Story by Michael Hastings
6. Hilarity Ensues (2012) by Tucker Max
7. I Hope They Serve Beer In &%#$ (2009) by Tucker Max
8. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen (2009) by Christopher McDougall
9. A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments by David Foster Wallace
10. Quiet (2012) by Susan Cain
11. Godforsaken (2012) by Dinesh D'Souza
12. Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin [cd, unabridged]
13. Boomerang: Travels in the New Third (2011) by Michael Lewis
14. Heaven and Mel (2012) by Joe Esterzhas
15. Running on Empty: An Ultramarathoner's Story of Love, Loss, and a Record-Setting Run Across America (2011) by Marshall Ulrich
16. Steve Jobs (2011) by Walter Isaacson
17. Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010 (2012) by Charles Murray
18. Run!: 26.2 Stories of Blisters and Bliss (2011) by Dean Karnazes
19. Bossypants (2011) by Tina Fey [cd, unabridged]
20. The Letter: My Journey Through Love, Loss & Life (2012) by Marie Tillman
21. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (2012) by Cheryl Strayed
22. Failing Law Schools (2012) by Brian Tamanaha
23. AWOL On the Appalachian Trail (2010) by David Miller
24. Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson [cd, unabridged]
25. A Blistered Kind of Love: A Couple's Trial by Trail by Angela & Duffy Ballard
26. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson [cd, unabridged]
27. Quitter (2011) by Jon Acuff
28. Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson [cd, unabridged]
29. The Day the Earth Caved In: An American Mining Tragedy by Joan Quigley
30. Tangled Webs: How False Statements Are Undermining America: From Martha Stewart to Bernie Madoff (2011) by James B. Stewart
31. The Cactus Eaters: How I Lost My Mind--And Almost Found Myself--On The Pacific Crest Trail by Dan White
32. The Brief Against Obama (2012) by Hugh Hewitt
33. In a Sunburned Country (about Australia) by Bill Bryson [cd, unabridged]
34. Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power (2012) by Steve Coll [cd, unabridged]
35. Don't Go To Law School (Unless) by Paul Campos (2012)
36. Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics (2012) by Ross Douthat
37. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir by Bill Bryson [cd, unabridged]
38. Too Fat To Fish by Artie Lange with Anthony Bozza [cd, unabridged]
39. Not Taco Bell Material (2012) by Adam Corolla
40. No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden (2012) by Mark Owen (pseudonym) and Kevin Maurer
41. Consider the Lobster And Other Essays by David Foster Wallace
42. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert [cd, unabridged]
43. In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks: . . . And Other Complaints from an Angry Middle-Aged White Guy (2010) by Adam Carolla
44. Why I Left Goldman Sachs: A Wall Street Story (2012) by Greg Smith
45. The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court (2012) by Jeffrey Toobin [cd, unabridged]
46. The Big Miss: My Years Coaching Tiger Woods (2012) by Hank Haney [cd, unabridged]
47. Mortality (2012) by Christopher Hitchens
48. Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and The Education of a President (2011) by Ron Suskind

Book of the Year
Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics (2012) by Ross Douthat
Honorable Mentions: Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010 (2012) by Charles Murray and Quiet (2012) by Susan Cain

Concert of the Year
Tool

Losses Sustained
Charles Colson
Frank Pastore
Junior Seau

Film of the Year
Arbitrage and Flight (tie)
Honorable Mention: Argo

Athletic Accomplishment of the Year
Summited Saddleback Mountain (Santiago Peak)

Trial of the Year (arbitration)
Corporate client executed consulting agreement with hospital to obtain provider contract that had long eluded hospital (after its cancellation many years ago). Client was successful in securing lucrative provider contract. Once hospital had provider contract in hand, it refused to honor consulting agreement, which included a substantial success fee to Client. Client and hospital mediated. The parties fashioned a settlement agreement (with mutual and general releases). Hospital failed to honor settlement agreement (even while enjoying the benefits of provider contract). Client sued. Hospital moved to arbitrate pursuant to arbitration clause in consulting agreement. In arbitration, which I conducted, hospital argued the contract was "illegal" and demanded return of the money it had paid Client (prior to and in addition to success fee). The arbitration involved complex testimony of experts as well as percipient witnesses. Arbitrator granted every penny requested to my Client and denied the cross-complaint in its entirety. I moved to confirm the arbitration award as a judgment. Hospital argued the award should be vacated and asked the court to take up its "illegality" argument. The trial court rejected the hospital's argument in its entirety and confirmed the award. The court issued judgment for my client. Hospital appealed. However, the hospital did not post a bond or otherwise seek a stay of enforcement. My colleague initiated judgment collection efforts and reached full payment, which the Sheriff's office (who did the levying) reported was the largest recovery they had ever seen. The hospital dismissed the appeal.

About Me

Like the blog motto, my background is an intersection of law and theology.
I hold three graduate degrees. Two are in law (a J.D. and an LL.M. in Taxation), and one is in theology.
In law school, I served on the Law Review, and received the American Jurisprudence Award in Trial Advocacy.
Likewise, my professional background is an intersection of law and education.
In addition to being a named partner in an A-V rated Newport Beach, California trial and appellate law firm, emphasizing business and real estate, I've taught Constitutional law, civil procedure and ethics in law school. I am also a published author.
I live at the beach in Southern California, and am a fitness, book, music, film and travel enthusiast.
Reach me at rjr (at) reichradcliffe (dot) com.
Follow me at twitter.com/nblaw